17 Awesome Things to Do in Dallas This Weekend, April 2 - 5

The Pin Show This year's iteration of The Pin Show has us on pins and needles for all the right reasons. The much-buzzed-about local fashion event is a must-see for trendsetters and followers alike, seamlessly mixing well-heeled debutantes with edgy artistic types for a show that would be right at home in NYC's fashion district. You can practically picture Beyoncé on the edge of her seat for this carefully curated mix of clothes and accessories from independent labels, melded with music from local electro-pop outfit Zhora. The event also offers a chance to explore the newly revived Bomb Factory (2713 Canton St.), which opened its doors just days ago. Tickets will set you back $20 for general admission and $65 for VIP seating; get yours at thepinshow.com. The show starts at 8 p.m. - Jennifer Davis-Lamm

Thursday, April 2Wading Home In modern American history, few tragedies have tied together human suffering with societal ills in the way that Hurricane Katrina did. It was an epic, heartbreaking shitshow of everything that was, and still is, wrong with our government, our infrastructure and our culture. The shockwaves continue to reverberate a decade later and will probably crop up for years to come in different forms and fashions, in New Orleans and far beyond. Wading Home interprets those awful events through the triumphs and tragedies of a family struggling to reclaim its momentum after the storm, performed as a one-of-a-kind opera based on the book by Dallas author Rosalyn Story. It's the first public staging of this labor of love, full of historical gut-punches, rich cultural touchstones and life-altering journeys. The world premiere is 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Dallas City Performance Hall at 2320 Flora St.; admission is pay-what-you-can, with all proceeds benefiting The Roots of Music and The Foote Foundation. See details at tbaal.com. -JDL

Colossal previews The country's favorite form of drama takes place every year from September to February, and it appears in living rooms, bars and giant stadiums across this great land. It features a cast of rich team owners, apoplectic coaches and players who we root for as long as they're useful to our cause. And our cause is football: a sport where fresh-faced college kids and hardened domestic-abusers alike are chewed up and spit out amidst a frenzy of jersey sales and talk-radio callers -- cast aside when pass-completion rates dip or catastrophic injuries occur. It's the latter that's the dominant theme in Colossal, a play performed in four quarters, complete with a rousing halftime show. Director Kevin Moriarty will turn the Wyly Theatre (2400 Flora St.) into a realistic football field for an immersive experience that will explore the fate of a former UT football player left quadriplegic by an on-field injury. The Dallas Theater Center is sure to score a touchdown with their presentation of the epic and groundbreaking play; see it at 7:30 p.m. Thursday or through Sunday, May 3. Tickets are $18-$55; to purchase tickets and see show times, visit dallastheatercenter.org. - JDL

Baseball Historically, baseball games have been a place where Americans meet on common ground, even if they're rooting for opposing teams, and American presidents have long used the sport as a means to rally the country and ground it in a sense of normalcy. Consider how Herbert Hoover attended games during the Depression to reassure the public, or how Harry S. Truman signaled the end of World War II by showing up at the ballpark. George W. Bush also threw out a symbolic pitch -- during the 2001 World Series -- and it's his library that's compiled a look back at the relationship between American presidents and baseball. Baseball: America's Presidents, America's Pastime features photos, archival material and documents from both the president's collection and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Musuem, and it will be on view at the George W. Bush Presidential Center (2943 SMU Blvd.) through Sunday, October 4. The library is open daily, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and from noon-5 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $10-$16; visit bushcenter.org for more. - JDL

The Bake Sale Second to Halloween, Easter is the holiday upon which my family has always consumed the most sugar. Whether it's my Aunt's carrot cake, or the candy we would collect from an Easter Egg hunt, this weekend always makes me thing of goodies. If you're looking for something more sophisticated than Peeps, stop by the Bake Sale at 1410 N Fitzhugh Ave (at Bryan St next to Jimmy's and Urbano Cafe.) to fill your Easter basket with sweet things made by local chefs Lily Hanson and Skye McDaniel. Lasts from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Gremlins There are three simple rules for keeping a gremlin: Don't expose it to sunlight, never let it touch water, and never, under any circumstances, feed it after midnight. In Joe Dante's Gremlins, Gizmo, the main gremlin, proves to be a difficult responsibility when it keeps spawning little equally terrifying destructive monsters. The movie is creepy and a bit scary, but mainly really funny. It's the movie that forever changed the rating system. And if you no longer own the VHS of the 1984 classic, there's a chance to see it when Lone Star Film Society hosts a screening of the box-office smash at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (3200 Darnell St.) See the flick at 10 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $7. More at themodern.org. - Paige Skinner

The Clothesline Muse These days, we can send random thoughts, meaningless musings and politically charged invective to countless people with just a couple of clicks on our phones. But there was a time when the tales, thoughts and wishes that made their way from generation to generation had to have some serious meat on their bones to compel folks to pass them along. Folk tales and folk songs were conveyed by folks. Actual people. No bandwidth or log-in required. The multi-disciplinary TeCo Theatrical Productions presentation of The Clothesline Muse will approach these deliberate, old-world modes of communication in a progressive, new-school manner by blending jazz, spoken word, dance, video and interactive art. See the show at 7:30 p.m. Thursday or Friday, or at 3 p.m. Sunday, at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center (215 S. Tyler St.). Visit tecotheatre.org for more. - Kelly Dearmore

Deep Ellum Arts Festival The best part of school was always recess. The playground. The swings and the monkey bars and the time to play with other rascals. But with adulthood comes taxes and boring dinner parties and no more recess. And it sucks. But luckily for you, there's an adult version of recess called the annual Deep Ellum Arts Festival. It's a celebration that will take over Main Street and showcase hundreds of musical performances, artworks and a ton of food and drinks from all sorts of Dallas restaurants. If that doesn't excite you, it will also be similar to your elementary school days in that there will be a daily poetry slam and open mic. You did free-verse jams in third grade, right? The event kicks off at 11 a.m. Friday and sticks around all weekend. Admission is free. More info at deepellumartsfestival.com. - PS

Matt Sadler Road comics have the best stories. When they start out, they have to play pretty much anywhere with a microphone and a stage that's willing to barter jokes for actual money, food or a night of sleep in the barn. Austin's Matt Sadler has a ton of those stories. He once heard the greatest comeback line during a fight at a biker bar and he also had the brilliant idea to use comics to campaign against drinking and driving. He got his first big break as the winner of HBO's National Talent Search in 1999, which led to a string of gigs across the country and in Korea and Japan. He's also toured with the USO to entertain troops in the Middle East and hosted the Xbox and PS2 trivia game "The Guy Game." He'll be at Hyena's Comedy Nightclub (5321 E. Mockingbird Lane) at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The Thursday show is free. Tickets for Friday and Saturday are $10-$15, depending on available seating. - Danny Gallagher

Chicago "Chic-ag-o with murder and dance and tip tappity tap JAZZ HANDS." If I'm not mistaken, those are the opening lyrics to the musical Chicago, made famous by the movie that bears the same name. I kid. Chicago was a massive hit long before Queen Latifah ever set foot on the silver screen. How could it not be? It's the story of Roxie Hart, a murdering housewife/nightclub dancer who has a piece on the side and then doesn't, because, you know, murder. While Hart's in jail she manages to create a rivalry with a cellmate, hire the oiliest lawyer around and spin the whole thing into front-page news across the country. Chicago is a musical with some serious high steppin'. It's won Tonys and Emmys and at 7:30 p.m. Friday you can see it live at Bass Performance Hall starring our very own Dylis Croman, a Booker T. graduate. Additional performances at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available now and start at $49.50. More info at basshall.com. - Nikki Lott

Saturday, April 4Drone Wars "Drone" is a new, hot-button word in the vein of "selfie," "poke" and "truthiness." Thanks to their military use, drones have a negative connotation, but hobbyists are starting to reclaim the term and use it to evoke fun and skill rather than a talking point for TV pundits. It requires a great amount of skill to fly and control a drone, and the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison (4572 Claire Chennault St.) is offering a unique way to test your drone-flying abilities with a Drone Wars competition. Don't worry. Hellfire missiles are not part of the deal, though that would be pretty freaking awesome. Fliers will race their drones around a three-dimensional obstacle course in the museum's 11,000-square-foot hanger featuring hoops, pylons, bridges and other obstacles. Race entries are $25 per contestant; spectator tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 4-12. Find more information at cavflight.org. The wars start at noon. - DG

Human Occult Powers Circuit 12 Contemporary isn't throwing stones or killing birds, but they are introducing you to a bunch of new artists in just a few exhibits. Human Occult Powers explores the mystical thing we call human existence and the magical process of creation. It's an eight-person exhibition featuring paintings, sculpture, sound and video that take an interest in making the unseen seen, or some kind of supernatural something like that. If the gallery's owners, Gina and Dustin Orlando, have proven one thing, it's that they have damn good taste. Swing by the free opening reception from 6-10 p.m. Saturday. More information at circuit12.com. - Lauren Smart

Haute Fauxx If you're like me, it's very easy to window-shop for a new life. I do it at NorthPark all the time. I walk through Pirch or some other store I can't afford and imagine a life that's fancier. More fashionable. I'm guessing it's a struggle I share with many artists who spend much of their life scraping by, while the upper classes enjoy the finer things in life. Things like art. But when it comes to art and fashion, a lot gets lost between perception and reality. This gap is what Jesse Meraz explores in his latest body of work. Haute Fauxx, the artist's first exhibition in a decade, assembles "displays" to "employ the trappings of falsehoods, fantasy, and enchantments that relate to consumers' attraction to "prestige" goods, fabricated truth and glossy lifestyles." See it at RO2 Art (110 N. Akard St.) in an opening reception 7-10 p.m. Saturday. Or through May 4. More at Ro2art.com. -LS

Lydia Octavio Solis' Lydia is most frequently described as "intense." The play explores the American dream in the context of a brain-damaged teenage girl, whose potential was cruelly wiped out during an accident in the 1970s Texas border town in which she resides. Lydia is the maid her family hires to tend to her, as she lies in a near vegetative state, and Solis plays the two women off each other throughout the play -- exploring their interactions, their effects on the family around them and all the things that could have been. The piece focuses on the way voices from all walks of life struggle to be heard, and yes, it gets a little intense. Sexual themes abound, including an act that questions the thin line between love and sin. Cara Mia Theatre Company produces the complex work at the Wyly Theatre (2400 Flora St.); catch it at 8:15 p.m. Saturday or through Sunday, April 19. Tickets are $11 to $18 at caramiatheatre.org.

Sunday, April 5

These pups relocate from Lee Park to Deep Ellum.

Catherine Downes

Deep Ellum Pet Parade It broke our hearts to hear that Easter at Lee Park would be no more. Mostly because we've been huge fans of the annual pet parade. Lucky for us, the Deep Ellum Arts Fest will fill this adorable little gap. At 11 a.m. Sunday bring your animal to the festival and show off the fact that you, and only you, have the cutest pet in town.

Citizen Kane Possibly, some adult somewhere in America doesn't know the mystery of Citizen Kane - why newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane whispers the word "rosebud" on his deathbed. Who hasn't seen the groundbreaking 1941 masterpiece by Orson Welles, a thinly biography of William Randolph Hearst that's widely hailed the greatest movie ever made? If you don't know the names Kane, Welles or Hearst, or you're wondering "But what about Mean Girls?" then sorry to spoil the surprise, you twenty-something Philistine. Please return to whatever you were doing with your smart phone. Or better yet, you can go see what all the fuss is about at the Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., which is showing a restored version of Citizen Kane at 9 p.m. Thursday and 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10. - Patrick Williams

500 X Easter Egg Hunt Hunt for Easter eggs among the art at 500x on from 2-5 p.m. Sunday. Prizes include artworks by members of 500x or limited edition exhibition posters. Entry is free and there will be grilled cheese sandwiches for $1. -LS